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Biggest Nations and Empires Ever

Guess the nations that controlled the largest land areas.
Includes current nations and historical empires
Groups together different dynasties that arose from a similar cultural group
Size in square kilometers. Year of maximum extent.
Source: Wikipedia
Quiz by Quizmaster
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Featured Quiz
Last updated: October 3, 2018
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First submittedAugust 22, 2012
Times taken128,712
Average score75.0%
Rating4.48
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Size
Year
Answer
35.5 mil
1920
British Empire
24 mil
1200s
Mongol Empire
22.8 mil
1895
Russian Empire
14.7 mil
1700s
China
13.7 mil
1810
Spanish Empire
11.5 mil
1920
French Empire
11.1 mil
720
Umayyad Caliphate
10.0 mil
current
Canada
10.0 mil
1934
United States of America
8.5 mil
current
Brazil
7.7 mil
current
Australia
5.5 mil
500 BC
Achaemenid Persian Empire
Size
Year
Answer
5.5 mil
1820
Portuguese Empire
7 mil
1943
Empire of Japan
5.2 mil
1683
Ottoman Empire
6 mil
1942
Nazi Germany
5.2 mil
323 BC
Macedonia
5 mil
250 BC
Maurya Empire (India)
5 mil
1823
Mexican Empire
5 mil
117
Roman Empire
4.6 mil
800
Tibetan Empire
4 mil
441
Hunnic Empire
4 mil
1940
Dutch Empire
3.8 mil
1938
Italian Empire
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100 Recent Comments
Gamer1162
+3
Level 59
Feb 27, 2017
Japan and Nazi Germany are out of order. Also, where's Japan in the source?
calvord
+2
Level 63
May 7, 2017
I thought there would be entries for Denmark since it controls Greenland, then also the Inca, Aztec, and Mayan Empires.
ChaosLord
+8
Level 75
Aug 13, 2017
The Inca, Aztec and Mayan Empires, in comparison to the colonial powers, were absolutely tiny.
NHG
+3
Level 49
Sep 15, 2020
Greenland is pretty small in the grand scheme of things (unless for some unknown reason you're still using a Mercator projection in this modern day and age)
TheNewYork
+1
Level 35
Jun 6, 2017
Ugh,Alexander!
Algernon
+1
Level 73
Jul 15, 2017
Canadian isn't an acceptable type in for Canada? Really?
ChaosLord
+11
Level 75
Aug 13, 2017
Because there's never been a Canadian Empire. It's simply the nation state of Canada.
Hockputer
+1
Level 56
Feb 6, 2023
It would be cool if Canada was an empire.
Milezinator
+1
Level 71
Jul 19, 2017
i missed one but still got 5/5 i didnt know that could happen!
Maladroit
+4
Level 51
Oct 25, 2017
For those curious, Sudan (pre-2011) misses out by quite a bit, with only 2.5 million square kilometres.
Nick16
+3
Level 55
Oct 25, 2017
Tibet? Wow
ShievaAndGolly
+2
Level 57
Mar 18, 2022
If you look up the Tibetan Empire, then you can see how huge it was. And also how ugly its flag was.
NEGeo
+2
Level 62
Dec 24, 2023
MY EYES
morequizzes4u
+5
Level 33
Nov 1, 2017
@Quizmaster

Turkic khaganate: 6 million square km

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Turkic_Khaganate#

Seljuk empire: 3.9 million square km

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seljuk_Empire

Lemondance
+1
Level 67
Nov 21, 2022
The quiz uses square miles. Both of those values are smaller than the smallest quiz answer.
divantilya
+3
Level 36
Nov 29, 2017
Ignoring the usual naysayers, Quiz Master, this was a great quiz. Thank you for the effort!
stevenmn
+2
Level 20
Dec 28, 2017
i am sure that the 8 percent that answer tibet is cheating
thisisnotanaccount1234567
+6
Level 46
Dec 28, 2017
probably not, they just are huge history nerds.
markthoma
+5
Level 73
Jun 5, 2018
I wasn't. Tibet is a relatively large land area with a long history and previous autonomy. I think it was the 2nd or 3rd to last one I got out of the 23. ...

One of the things I did was try to guess every significant culture I could think of and when I ran out of those I guessed large regions or peoples, etc. ...

It was pretty interesting how many famous empires did not make the list. Aztec, Inca, Maya, Carthaginian, Khmer.

Alssky
+3
Level 32
Apr 6, 2019
No LMAO. I can remember about Tibet bc I'm Asian and I learn a lot about it Lololol
AbhishekNS
+1
Level 57
Jun 29, 2020
Or might be Chinese/Indian.
ShievaAndGolly
+1
Level 57
Mar 18, 2022
I already knew about the Tibetan Empire and how big it was, just because we're smart doesn't mean that we're cheating...
azerifactory
+1
Level 45
Jul 5, 2018
Where is Austro-Hungarian Empire ?
RobNobody
+10
Level 78
Dec 7, 2018
Central Europe.
Sifhraven
+4
Level 72
Jul 23, 2019
It isnt, it doesnt exist anymore
HendogJP
+2
Level 59
Dec 15, 2020
Neither do most of these empires... to answer the question, it doesn't even break a million square kilometres.
Tamarin07
+2
Level 33
Jul 30, 2018
Where is Majapahit Empire?
piscis
+2
Level 31
Sep 23, 2018
Why not USSR?

It is different from the Russian Empire.

MikolajSzkutnik
+1
Level 75
Nov 15, 2018
got Hunnic and Tibetan, missed Italian, French and Dutch.....
driehoek25
+3
Level 67
Oct 26, 2020
Seriously the French? Half the world was carved up by the British and French at the beginning of last century.
Dollyfroggy
+1
Level 61
Apr 11, 2023
I did the same since I assumed it was already guessed.
Zaakna
+7
Level 52
Dec 7, 2018
Was Australia not bigger when before Papua New Guinea and the Solomon islands got independance?
TjizzleDizzle
+4
Level 67
Feb 10, 2020
I am surprised it took so long in the comments to see someone make this point. First thing I thought when it said it is current Australia....'wait a minute'....LOL.
Tramp
+2
Level 77
Dec 7, 2018
Tibet is such an inhospitable place, I bet it included like 16 people at its peak
ShievaAndGolly
+2
Level 57
Mar 18, 2022
Believe it or not, around 10,000,000 lived in the Tibetan empire.
Jerry928
+3
Level 76
Dec 23, 2018
Japan and Germany appear out of size sequence.
guvenah
+2
Level 26
Jul 11, 2019
Should accept Alexandrian empire as Macedonian
poltergeist
+1
Level 59
Jul 12, 2019
no vikings?
HinesBrothers
+4
Level 75
Sep 11, 2019
Japan and Germany are out of place on the list, they both should be listed higher up because last time I Czeched, 7 mil > 5.5 mil and 6 mil > 5.2 mil
Sifhraven
+5
Level 72
Feb 6, 2020
Czeched haha I Ghana believe you wrote that
CardinalSin
+2
Level 79
Feb 6, 2020
Och, mon. Wi remarks like that, I'll pretend I nae Kenya.
JackintheBox
+5
Level 80
Nov 20, 2019
Got 'Hunnic Empire' after typing 'Hun'... for 'Hungary'!
Chunkydonkey
+2
Level 58
Feb 6, 2020
Dutch empire with 4 mil sqkm???? In 1940? What belonged to the Netherlands at that time besides Indonesia, Surinam, the Dutch West Indies and NL itself? Altogether barely 2 mil sqkm?
JackintheBox
+1
Level 80
Jul 18, 2020
Yes, where does the remaining 2 million sq km come from?
NauruPalau
+1
Level 49
Feb 6, 2020
21/24 missed Umayyad, Tibet, and Mexican. Good wuiz
JWatson24
+1
Level 71
Feb 6, 2020
Why was America at its greatest extent in 1934? I know that America would've been larger in the past due to imperial expansion in the early 1900s, but I thought that mostly happened in the first decade or two of the century. Was there something annexed by America in 1934 that allowed it to reach its greatest extent?
nonono
+2
Level 89
Feb 6, 2020
Good question. I would have guessed around 1898 when the US acquired Hawaii, Guam, Puerto Rico, and the Philippines. This may be based on an interpretation of the Howard-Wheeler Act (a/k/a Indian Reorganization Act of 1934) that restored at least some Native American sovereignty over reservations. If you remove that territory from the calculation, the area of the US becomes smaller in 1934.
TheQuizzler
+1
Level 64
Feb 6, 2020
Fascinating quiz, Quizmaster!
protector441
+1
Level 48
Feb 6, 2020
Timurid empire is missing. I checked it, because I could not believe that and it listed in the source given in description as well (at 4.4 mil. of sq kilometres). It is definitely not related to the Ottoman, nor the Mongol. Please check it out!
kalbahamut
+1
Level 81
Feb 7, 2020
I'm guessing they're counting it as a offshoot of the Mongolian Empire, and not counting it because it was not as large. But you're right... see what I said above about the differences between the Italian and Roman Empires.
Carlcv
+1
Level 53
Mar 20, 2020
Danish empire? the danish empire was Sweden, Norway, Some of germany, Iceland, faroe islands and greenland. That must be bigger than some of these.
NHG
+1
Level 49
Sep 15, 2020
Apart from Greenland which is around a couple of million sq km, the others don't make much difference.
AntiMatter8192
+2
Level 72
Mar 24, 2020
How abut the Mughal empire? It reached 4.6 million kilometers squared.
SWATkun
+2
Level 59
Apr 7, 2020
Great quiz I agree, but how tf is Mughal Empire and Mauryan Empire the same and even India is accepted for both.

I humbly request you to change Mauryan Empire to Mughal Empire because both are completely two different Empires with nothing in common except for the land they once ruled.

It's utterly nonsensical to accept Mughal for Mauryan.

Mughal Empire was bigger than Mauryan Empire and so Mauryan Empire shouldn't be accepted even if you accept India for Mughal Empire.

Or give us the source which says the Mughal Empire is the same as the Mauryan Empire. It's such a. Disappointment to see such silly mistakes in this website ;-;

Mughal Empire Wikipedia

Mauryan Empire Wikipedia

AbhishekNS
+1
Level 57
Jun 29, 2020
Its the other war around. Mauryan Empire under Ashoka was bigger than Mughal Empire ever was.
MaxStickies
+2
Level 79
Jul 11, 2020
Merely out of curiosity, why was the Xiongnu empire missed out?
TheDarkJaguar
+2
Level 70
Oct 26, 2020
Looking at it on wikipedia, I would guess it's that they are considered by a lot of scholars to have been the cultural ancestors of the huns, and therefore are disqualified by the "same culture group" clause
egg000
+1
Level 55
Oct 22, 2024
according to the source, the Xiongnu had a maximum area of 9 million square kilometers and should be in this list instead of the huns
einstein100102
+2
Level 54
Jul 31, 2020
The USA was the largest country in the world, in 1969 when it laid a flag (claim) to the MOON!
Moos1005
+7
Level 85
Sep 24, 2020
Read your wording again. Something doesn't sound right.
Terran
+2
Level 65
Feb 23, 2022
But the moon is not "in the world".
Cordelia75
+3
Level 56
Nov 18, 2022
The flag was symbolic and not a claim. The USA was part of the UN treaty that stated the moon can not be claimed by any nation.
konigslayer
+3
Level 55
Aug 12, 2020
I am mexican and couldn’t guess the Mexican empire lol
Yeoryios
+1
Level 72
Sep 7, 2020
During the whole quiz I was thinking that the size was population, and I was confused how Macedonia and Ottoman had the same population...
ThatFunnyFish
+1
Level 43
Dec 12, 2020
The biggest moment of australia was when they had also new guinea
Lunamagnoona
+1
Level 41
Aug 25, 2021
I cant believe I got the Tibetan empire but I didn't get the Macedonian empire ( slaps face )
ZooTuber3000
+2
Level 52
Sep 9, 2021
What about the Soviet Union?
Dollyfroggy
+1
Level 61
Oct 17, 2021
Considered the same as the Russian Empire, it appears.
KrishPatel
+1
Level 68
Apr 4, 2022
The Russian Empire was larger (very slightly)
QuizzerBros
+1
Level 68
Sep 30, 2021
I missed the Persian Empire *facepalm*
Dollyfroggy
+1
Level 61
Oct 17, 2021
I got Tibet... but missed China.
EmadAB
+1
Level 44
Dec 20, 2021
Abbasid caliphate??
DanCanDoIt1217
+2
Level 36
Jan 27, 2022
I meant to say Hungary, but the Hunnic was accepted anyway because I said hun, and I took a while to get Japan
Hockputer
+1
Level 56
Feb 6, 2023
Same
JT22
+1
Level 66
Mar 27, 2022
Why not Yugoslavia?
shrekcena
+2
Level 55
Apr 22, 2022
Not very large
KrishPatel
+1
Level 68
Apr 4, 2022
Lol I typed in Mughal and they accepted Maurya
shrekcena
+1
Level 55
Apr 22, 2022
Ah yes, the Australian and Canadian empires 🧐
ShievaAndGolly
+1
Level 57
May 20, 2022
*Nations* and Empires
Chad
+1
Level 64
Jul 28, 2022
How is Portugal listed at only 5.5 million square kilometres? Colonial Brazil alone was 8.1 million square kilometres.
maur85
+1
Level 72
Nov 20, 2022
How was 1934 the USA's maximum extent? Has it shrunk since then?
Chad
+1
Level 64
Apr 19, 2023
The United States has shrunk since the independence of the Philippines and other less notable possessions, though I’m not entirely sure about the specific choice of 1934.
Lemondance
+2
Level 67
Nov 21, 2022
Where's the Ohioan Empire??
Hockputer
+1
Level 56
Feb 6, 2023
Shut up.
giveMEname
+2
Level 49
Apr 11, 2023
Here: BREAKING NEWS: OHIO RESIDENTS TAKE OVER THE WORLD
MindWax
+2
Level 85
Mar 25, 2024
Lol -- Ohio residents couldn't take over Toledo.
Hockputer
+1
Level 56
Feb 6, 2023
Holy Roman Empire?
Jimbobthequizzer
+4
Level 41
Feb 8, 2023
Australia is not currently at its peak as it used to own Papua New Guinea and to a certain extent Nauru.
Zefyrinus
+2
Level 72
Feb 28, 2023
How was the Portuguese empire smaller than Brazil?
Nickelz
+3
Level 67
Apr 11, 2023
They didn't own all of Brazil.
Dollyfroggy
+1
Level 61
Apr 11, 2023
I am surprised that the nations/empires beggining with Um... (43%) and H... (30%) are so commonly guessed, but T... is so low (8%).
Ramiro
+1
Level 49
Apr 18, 2023
Wow, I missed only the hunnic empire on the first try but then did 100%, surprised only 2.2% got 100%. Great quiz!
DenizYaman
+1
Level 52
Jan 14, 2024
Timurid Empire is missing
solocro
+1
Level 60
Jan 18, 2024
Australia was bigger before the independence of Papua New Guinea and the Solomons (though that could be considered part of the British Empire)

Brazil was also bigger when controlling Uruguay during the Brazilian Empire

EmadAB
+1
Level 44
Apr 20, 2024
Abbasid caliphate?
aphroditos
+1
Level 29
Oct 15, 2024
when did australia became an empire? i only didn’t get that one
amazingkeller
+1
Level 49
Oct 15, 2024
It isnt an empire
SpartanLlama
+1
Level 71
Nov 25, 2024
Oh my goodness I had 30 seconds remaining and I was wondering what the last one could be and I just spontaneously typed Tibet without thinking it would actually be it
Axle36
+1
Level 67
Nov 30, 2024
The "Australian empire" was 462,840 square kilometres bigger before 1975, when it controlled Papua New Guinea
Xtrordinary
+1
Level 69
Dec 9, 2024
The list includes nations which arent empires
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